One Region Forward plans Monday meeting in Lockport

LOCKPORT – One Region Forward, the University at Buffalo-based organization working on what it calls “a regional plan for sustainable development,” will hold a public workshop Monday night in Lockport.

Kevin McDonough of the city’s Community Development Department said the session will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the mezzanine level of the Historic Palace Theatre, 2 East Ave.

The event is being hosted by Lockport Main Street Inc.

Bart Roberts of the UB Regional Institute said another meeting is on tap from 3 to 5 p.m. March 25 in the Niagara County Community College Culinary Institute on Old Falls Street in Niagara Falls.

Roberts said a draft of the One Region Forward plan is expected to be released in late spring or early summer, with completion planned for late this year.

The organization, funded in 2012 with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, held five major meetings around the Buffalo Niagara region in November: in Buffalo, East Aurora, Amherst, Pendleton and Lewiston.

McDonough said he thought eastern Niagara County was being left out of the planning. “I thought it was important that it cover the whole region,” he said. “I thought it was important that they come to eastern Niagara County, get a different perspective.”

“We were excited when Kevin reached out to us,” Roberts said.

The projected plan from One Region Forward will focus on five main points: housing, land use and development, transportation, food access and action on climate change.

Roberts said implementation will be up to local governments, not-for-profit groups and private citizens.